#roastrology

I wanted to do my work experience at Cafeology as I thought it was a good opportunity to find out what work is like in a warehouse also to see what sorts of coffee there is and how it is produced. I was lucky enough to be accepted to work as part of the Cafeology and Roastology Team.

On my first day I was very nervous as I didn’t know what to expect but when I met all the staff at the warehouse I was put at ease. Everyone was very friendly and treated me like I was part of the team. Steve (who was my line manager) talked me through all the Health and Safety, Hygiene and Fire procedures and made sure I had understood everything. I was then given a hi-vis vest and had a tour around the warehouse/roastery to see all the different work areas. Once my tour had finished I went and worked with Greg who showed me the warehouse cleaning process and how to use the pump truck, he then let me clean an area of the warehouse and ensured I completed the cleaning record. I was then showed how to pick a customer order and Greg explained the importance of best before dates as well as batch codes & ensuring the batch codes are written on the pick lists. He also explained product coding and the location of products. Greg talked me through the difference between courier delivery (DPD) orders and hand delivery orders. He showed me how to pack DPD deliveries and print off DPD labels so the order/s are delivered to the correct customer. I was also showed where to put hand deliveries once picked.

Other jobs I did over my work experience:

Coffee Roasting - when I first went onto the roasting the green beans - creating Roastology blended coffee, Steve showed and talked me through the process. He started me with an RMP003 (roast master product) once the roast had finished, he ask me questions about roasting to ensured I have listened to him and had understood the process. I did further roasts of RMP001, RMP004 & RMP006 under the supervision of Steve and Chay. Steve would kept asking me questions very enthusiastically about the roasting process like

"What temperature are you changing the airflow at?"

"What do we not change it at?"

"What temperature are you dropping it at?"

“What temperature are you not dropping it at?"

"Why do we do tests and record the temperature?"

I would always answer with a smile.

I did do one roast unsupervised which was a RMP001 and Steve passed it with the comment of "well done chief". This did boost my confidence. Roasting the coffee was my favourite job. I found it interesting learning about all the different blends of coffee and how to make a perfect blend by dropping and changing the airflow at different temperatures (270,370 and 430-446).

I also did some packing of Roastology coffee beans. Luke talked me through the process of packing and labelling the coffee bags and boxes. I than packed the Cafe Excelso Espresso beans for University of Sheffield, which are in brown 1kg bags and are packed eight to a box. I had to ensure the weight was accurate for all the bags.

Barista training with Scott was so much harder than I expected as you have to get the right amount of ground coffee and it has to be level. The milk has to be the right temperature and has to have the right amount of foam specific to the type of coffee you are making. I did enjoy this but wasn’t very confident in this area. While I was doing my training Steve popped up to see how I was getting on and asked for a Cappuccino but I didn’t know how to make one , so I made him a latte, it took multiple attempts to make it right. I don’t think I will be a barista in the future. Thanks Scott for your patience.  

Delivering customers orders via hand delivery with Roger was fun as I got to meet some customers, while seeing some of the country sights within Derbyshire. I found the customers very friendly and happy to have receive they orders. Roger talked me through the delivery process, made me check the stock out of the van matched the customer’s order before going into the customer. I had to ensure the delivery note was signed and dated by the customer. It was a busy day for deliveries and it was physical work, but the day went so fast and I did enjoy delivering orders.  

Overall I enjoyed my work experience at Cafeology/Roastology warehouse and have gained a lot of knowledge about the coffee business, especially the roasting side of it.

A BIG THANK YOU to Steve for being very patient with me and explaining all the processed to me while also being cheery. Also thank you to Chay, Greg, Roger, Scott and Luke for passing on knowledge and helping me complete my work duties and also for making my 2 weeks with Cafeology/Roastology enjoyable.

Thank you to Toni and Bryan for the opportunity to work within your company.